


Even If (We're The Only Ones Who Know)

by ageha_nacht



Category: Tales of Crestoria
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, M/M, and won't let go, no beta we die like transgressors, so i might as well bring everyone down with me, this ship and game has grabbed me by the neck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26165236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ageha_nacht/pseuds/ageha_nacht
Summary: Sometimes a tolerable present is enough.
Relationships: Aegis Alver/Vicious
Comments: 5
Kudos: 43





	Even If (We're The Only Ones Who Know)

There are different signs of Vicious’s mood that can be inferred from his body language. Aegis has learned to identify these cues early on. It helps when dealing with the gunman’s fickleness and chaos and inherent love of violence, but there are times when he gets like this, it seems. 

On edge. Irritated. 

The air around him changes and he becomes every bit the danger the world knows him to be but moreso. It makes Aegis nervous to say the least. He may be the devil they know but that does not change the fact that Vicious _is still a devil_ ; tempting yet volatile, like a lullaby before your end, there is a way to handle him but that requires knowing him first. 

The veteran criminal hasn’t moved from the seat he’s commandeered on the patio of a cabin they’re “borrowing” for the next few days for the past several hours. Though he’s only been gone for about thirty minutes, time feels like it’s stretched a bit or maybe is stopping altogether.

"Normally I wouldn't condone this," he says as he approaches him. He sets the pack of cigarettes on the table beside him, yet makes no motion to sit. “But you've been like this for the past few days. They didn't have alcohol so this was the next best thing. I know you like this brand at least."

Vicious doesn't automatically move for them. He just stares at the former knight out of the corner of his eye--assessing, staring, Aegis can only handle being under that sharp gaze for so long--before taking the pack. He watches Vicious take out a cigarette and light it with one of his Blood Sins. That first drag doesn't do much, but the way he breathes out the smoke, the tendrils crawling in the air and drifting upward like a song in the air, he's a little less wound up than before. Only a little, though. 

The Great Transgressor leans back in his seat, eyes closed. To the untrained eye he looks like the picture-perfect entry of "frivolous" but Aegis knows that's not the case. It’s unnerving seeing him like this. As if at any moment he could snap and turn against them, but of course that’s just the stubborn past him speaking. Vicious is unpredictable, but he cares in his own way as he’s learned. 

It feels strange to watch over someone again like this again. Rather than duty (or his own misguided honor) it’s completely out of self-interest. He _wants_ Vicious to be okay but that’s rather impossible. From the bits and pieces whispered on the pillows or chest in the depths of night, he can tell that Vicious is never really--truly--going to be okay nor is he looking to be. It hurts a bit that he can’t do anything about it. Perhaps he should take a page from everyone else and keep his distance for the time being. 

As he turns to leave the man to his irritation, he feels a hand grab his wrist. The motion that follows, almost like clockwork--timed and coordinated to some unknown beat of each second--that brings him back until it can reach his waist but it doesn't stop there. No, it continues until he's fully in front of Vicious and the only thing in his vision. He tenses up as he’s pulled forward and into his lap. 

“Ease up, pretty boy. Ya know I don’t bite unless ya ask me to.”

It’s a bit awkward settling on his lap like this. He still hasn’t quite gotten used to the _closeness_ of it all where every touch has him taut at the unfamiliarity and embarrassed at the prospect of being seen by the others. They probably already know, but Aegis will take the little courtesies they grant him.

The cigarette hangs between Vicious’s lips. Aegis's nose crinkles at the smell, displeased. He wants to remove it. In a normal situation he would, but this isn't about him, it's about Vicious. So instead he brings his hand to cup the latter's face, rubbing his thumb on his cheekbones. Those eyes focus their attention completely on him and his every move, intoxicating in their depth. Aegis places their foreheads together, breathing in the smell he loathes from the cigarette and the heated scent he loves from Vicious. He has to close his eyes or else he’ll drown in those eyes that always see everything.

They sit there in silence, simply existing together in this rare bout of tranquility they’ve been granted. Vicious’s fingers are warm against the sliver of skin that’s been revealed. Aegis knows he’s still looking, always looking-watching-wound up in that way that his usual vices can’t handle. He wonders what expressions they’re both making. He’s been curious like that since they started this. He doesn’t need to hold back so the former knight opens his eyes. Gold and purple meet and the intensity seems even more charged than before. Whatever Aegis thought or wanted to say evaporates as he watches those lips wrap around the cigarette and breathe. He vaguely registers the hand on his waist tightening and untightening, massaging the skin there. 

Vicious exhales as he presses their lips together. The smoke dances between them, the taste of nicotine mingles with his tongue and the familiar taste of Vicious on his lips, but this kiss isn’t like the ones they’ve previously shared. It’s like he can taste the pensiveness as it surges with a lower, simmering heat settling beneath the surface rather than the explosive passion or impulsiveness he’s used to. It’s unhurried--steady and leisurely--yet so deep, Aegis feels lightheaded. When they break apart, he’s practically floating and his heart _won’t calm down_.

"Ya really are lovely, doll," the Great Transgressor mutters. "Too precious fer someone like me."

The former knight isn't sure why those words in that tone sets off the alarms in his head. His appearance has been commented on before. He’s gotten used to the empty platitude but this isn’t an empty compliment. It’s weighted-heavy-hanging in the air like this foul mood he’s trying to curb in the man before him. There’s more to the statement, more underneath the lead that’s settling in the air.

"What's that got to do with anything?" He asks. His voice is so low as though a secret is creeping between them. It may as well be as Vicious disgards the cigarette nub and pulls Aegis closer. The evident surprise in those amber eyes only got more abundant as Vicious wrapped his arms around his waist and rested his forehead against his shoulder. His heart is pounding and Vicious’s scent and the smoke is filling his nostrils is certainly not helping. “Vicious. What’s wrong?”

He finally speaks after a moment. "Yer queen mentioned that the shitty king goes after anyone that's beautiful. Gender doesn't matter. I've seen some fucked up shit, but I gotta wonder if he's done anything to ya and if his framin' ya was more than what we saw. Ya fit the requirements, after all."

Dread--slow and wordless--creeps up from the forgotten parts of Aegis's memory. A part that had him requesting Leon if they could bunk together because he couldn't handle being alone in those moments. A part where predatory eyes followed his every move even as he served the person those eyes should have been for. He grips Vicious's shoulder as the memories claw their way up, threatening to spill. He didn't think he'd ever have to bring this up with anyone. He hoped he wouldn't. But Vicious only needed a few clues and he could always figure out the worst intentions of the people who everyone praised as heroes or leaders.

"What'd he do to ya, Aegis?" 

Aegis shook his head. " _Nothing_. He didn't do anything," he began. Vicious is still watching him, listening like he does. He doesn't try to lie about this because there's no point. Not to Vicious. "But he tried to. I didn't understand it at the time, but Leon, shortly after he joined and we became friends, he had gotten protective of me for a time and-" He thinks back to when he was invited to the king's quarters so late at night, several times, wondering what had happened. He remembers Leon opting to go in his stead and coming back with a red mark on his face. He remembers the one time he did go. Looking back, his obstinacy saved him. If he had been any less stubborn, well. At least Queen Rebecca had genuine affections for him even if he didn't reciprocate.

"Yer shakin' like a leaf," he hears. He's right. He hadn't noticed, but he is shaking. This wasn't supposed to be about him. How does he end up being so selfish when Vicious is the one that needs to be cheered up? He takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. Vicious's hands are back to his waist, slowly moving up and down, grounding him.

"This is supposed to be about you, not me." Aegis mumbles. "Why are we talking about me?"

Vicious groans and ruffles the back of his head. If he’s truly annoyed right now, the silver-haired man can’t tell. "I'm like this because of ya, babe. Take responsibility for once."

Aegis doesn't get it. The niggling increases the more he thinks about it. He knows he's developing feelings that go beyond simple camaraderie for the Great Transgressor, but that doesn't mean it's the same for the Great Transgressor who's normally not so vulnerable. The conversation has taken a turn he wanted to avoid. The click of a tongue snaps him out of it.

"Don't get yer pretty little head in a twist, doll. It's not important right now."

At a later time the disgraced knight will realize what Vicious meant and how seamless the deflection was intended to be, but right now he just feels frustration. Frustration at, once again, being completely useless and half-assed in his attempts to help.

"What can I do?” he asks. “You’ve been like this for days. If I’m going to take responsibility, tell me what I can do.” 

In a normal circumstance he’d take Vicious’s look of disbelief with stride and fire, but right now it’s a little offensive. Even more so when he voices said disbelief. "What? Yer gonna cheer me up, precious? That's sweet but it ain't gonna work."

Aegis knows that. But that doesn't mean he won't try. "Even someone like you deserves to be cheered up. I don't actually know how to do that, but I want to try." 

The smirk that spreads on Vicious's face is a gradual thing, like the sky lighting up as daybreak approaches. It’s the first crack of the Vicious he's used to seeing, but this feels a bit more... serene. The disgraced knight feels his heart pick up again at the sight. He doesn't think he's ever seen this man look like this before.

"Cute. Alright, I'll play along," he said, before nudging him off his lap. "Can ya dance at all?"

Aegis shook his head, suddenly self-conscious. "I never deemed it necessary. I was a knight, not an escort." Vicious snickers.

“Many would beg to disagree, babe.” The comment earned the veteran criminal a jab to the gut which turned the snicker into full blown laughter. "Easy, easy. Go easy on me here. Yer not the only one here who can’t dance.”

“Then why ask?”

Vicious’s hands return to his waist. The look in his eyes have simmered in intensity and Aegis realizes the air feels much lighter than previously. Almost normal, in fact. It’s nice as he brings his hands to rest on the gunman’s upper arms. 

“Just felt like it,” he replies. 

Without even the simplest of knowledge of where to step they don’t move or even attempt to. They just stand there, holding each other in the peace of their bubble and Aegis feels like he’s bore witness to something incredible. He feels his breath leave him like a punch and then everything is a little brighter.

**Author's Note:**

> So I actually wasn't intending to post anything before I finished this monster of a fic I've been preparing for this series, but I've been ascending so high thanks to this game that I just gotta. I'm very fascinated by the characters and story, so might as well. Dedicated to the lovely people in my discord server, particularly Flamby, Brynn, Ro, and Ariel, who have contributed to this particular piece in various ways simply by being awesome and making me see, here is my triumphant return to the Tales fandom. 
> 
> (I promise I have't forgotten my other fandoms, yes Dr. Stone fandom, I see you.)
> 
> Hope you enjoy this meal!


End file.
